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Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, after which there was
a long war that Americans call the Revolutionary War but which
still gets called the American Rebellion in Britain, for obvious
reasons. The Fourth of July is an excuse for large barbecue picnics,
and fireworks are lit at night.
Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather and eat a lot of
food, and while they are doing this, they are supposed to remember
the survival of the Pilgrims and their first successful harvest. It was
originally celebrated with the Native Americans, without whose
help the Pilgrims would probably not have survived. Thanksgiving
dinner usually includes roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and
pumpkin pie. If you are a vegetarian or on a diet, you are out of
luck.
Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday
in November, and many people take the whole weekend off work.
It is one of the busiest travel weekends in the year, because many
people will travel long distances to be with their families. In
addition, people will open their homes to people who do not have
any family celebration to go to.
It is also the occasion for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day
Parade, sponsored by the famous New York City department store,
which features huge balloons of many well-known cartoon
characters. Many football games also take place on Thanksgiving,
which sometimes inspires people to go outside for their own game
of touch football.
A holiday that is still celebrated with enthusiasm in the
United States is Halloween, on October 31. The word was
originally "All Hallows' Eve," when all the spirits of the dead were
thought to rise from their graves and cause problems for people
before All Saints’ Day (November 1). It is now celebrated by
children dressing up in, costumes and going trick-or-treating from
door to door.
Carved pumpkins, or jack-o'-lanterns, witches, black cat,
and skeletons are common decorations for the holiday. Halloween
is not a legal holiday, but most people celebrate it by decorating
their houses, giving candy to trick-or-treaters, or going to costume
parties; schools often have parties or costume parades.
St. Valentine's Day, on February 14, is also not a legal
holiday but it is still widely celebrated. On that day, people give
each other cards known as valentines, and other gifts such as candy